Missouri may win one or two more football games this season, but if the Tigers’ performance over the last two weeks are any indication, even that is doubtful.
Nobody likes a “Debbie Downer,” and truthfully, the fact this season started the way it did, has been painful to watch, let alone write about. Unfortunately, these are the facts of the Tigers’ reality.
Back in the spring, I authored a four-part series giving my (way too early) prediction of how Missouri’s season would go. At that time, I gave Missouri eight wins, which, in hindsight, what was I thinking?
Barring a miraculous turnaround of events, Missouri may be lucky to match its record from last season, but even that seems a stretch at this point.
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I later made a slight revision, as the season drew closer. It became increasingly obvious that the reality of Missouri’s situation was an inexperienced defense, with no clear-cut standouts in the secondary. So, I simplified five games that the Tigers should win.
Of those five games, Missouri has turned in an even 1-1 performance. The Tigers defeated Missouri State, and then turned in a performance that was like watching a deflating balloon do circles around the living room against Purdue.
The next game I said the Tigers should win is against Idaho. At this point, I am skeptical that Missouri could beat a high school JV team, let alone little-known Idaho, and a later road date at Connecticut.
If we’re going by my first preview of the season from the late spring, I’m sitting on a 2-1 record. I predicted a win against Missouri State, and a loss to South Carolina. However, I was quite wrong about the Tigers’ victory over Purdue, and to think I also picked them to escape with a one-point win against Auburn in this week’s contest.
So far, I still agree with the three remaining losses to Kentucky, Florida, and Arkansas that I predicted, so we’ll see how the rest of the season goes. Perhaps the Tigers can eke out a couple more wins, but I’m not expecting much, if these last two losses were any indication of this team’s heart.
It’s difficult to substantiate the possibility that this team can recover from such a disappointing start to the season, a season in which the Tigers were held by many to have the No. 1-ranked offense in the SEC. But even with a one-in-a-million odd, I suppose it’s possible.
Next: Is it time to press the panic button?
We’ll check back next week to see if Missouri has figured out a way to bring its season back from an early grave, or if we’ll be writing another eulogy for the Tigers.